Why People Don't Strike in Small Towns

This one will probably get me in trouble, but here goes anyway.

Like a lot of people, I have been watching with interest the goings on in Wisconsin. In case you've been away from a T.V. or radio for a week, you know that the teachers are on strike. You know that some lawmakers have left the state in order to prevent a vote on teacher's pensions. You know that many teachers have called in sick, then showed up in a snow storm to protest their plight. You know that doctors have been openly committing fraud by signing sick notes for these teachers. What I have been wondering is why do you never see teachers pull these type of shenanigans in small towns?

Maybe it's because they are already used to making sacrifices. Maybe it's because the people whose kids they teach appreciate their effort. Maybe it's because most people in a small town only dream of getting a pension, but don't mind providing a reasonable one for their teachers as long as these teachers are willing to do their part. Maybe it's because a teacher in a small town wouldn't think of calling in sick, and then showing up in public, because public liars are not considered to be cute or clever or smart - just liars.

Maybe it's because teachers in small towns wouldn't think of insisting that the kids that they teach be burdened with providing them with a rich retirement. Maybe it's because... they believe in God.

You see, when you believe in God, you are not as likely to commit fraud, or lie, or leave your job, or bankrupt the kids you are teaching before they are even old enough to vote or have a job. I know that the situation in Wisconsin is a bit complicated, but not so complicated that it requires dishonesty.

So, to all you teachers in small towns and large who have never felt the compulsion to break God's laws or man's to get what's coming to you - thank you! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We pray that you will get what is coming to you. And, to those who do feel compelled to lie cheat and steal to make sure you get what's coming to you, we pray for you as well. We pray that you will repent so that you don't ever have to get what is coming to you!

The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.